Assessment of the proliferative activity of superficial esophageal carcinoma using MIB-1 immunostaining for the Ki-67 antigen.
OBJECTIVE
Lymph node metastasis or vascular invasion may occur in superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma when it invades to or into the muscularis mucosae. Therefore, the correlation between histopathological characteristics and the proliferative activity of superficial esophageal carcinoma was investigated.


METHODS
Thirty-eight cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, including 14 cases of mucosal carcinoma and 24 cases of submucosal carcinoma, who underwent surgical resection without preoperative treatment, were studied using monoclonal antibody MIB-1 for the Ki-67 antigen immunohistochemically. The labeling index (LI) was calculated with a computed image analyzer.


RESULTS
The LI of MIB-1 at the invasive tip of m3 carcinoma was significantly higher than that of m1 or m2 carcinoma (P < 0.01). The LI at the invasive tip was significantly higher than that at the core of sm2 (P < 0.05) and submucosal carcinoma overall (P < 0.01). The LI values at both the invasive tip and core of poorly differentiated carcinoma in submucosal carcinoma were higher than that of well or moderately differentiated carcinoma with a significant difference (P < 0.05). The LI at the invasive tip of submucosal carcinoma with lymph node metastasis or lymphatic invasion was significantly higher than that without them (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Proliferative activities of cancer cells in superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, immunostaining with the MIB-1, were related to the depth of invasion, differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and lymphatic invasion with a significant difference.
Chino
O
O
Second Department of Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.
Makuuchi
H
H
Shimada
H
H
Machimura
T
T
Mitomi
T
T
Osamura
R Y
RY
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen